Laura
by ggfan10
Summary: Chuck meets an interesting little girl in the elevator of his hotel and finds that they have more in common than you would expect. futurefic, Chuck/Blair
1. Chapter 1

**Just a random idea I had and decided to write about. I wrote this quickly so there's probably mistakes but review and tell me what you think :)**

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Chuck Bass stepped into the elevator of his hotel after a long day of work. He sighed, leaning back against the wall of the elevator, loosening his tie. Just as the elevator doors were about to shut, a small hand appeared between them and the doors re-opened to reveal a blonde little girl who looked to be no more than nine or ten. Her hair was perfectly curled and she was wearing a pink dress, tights and ballet flats, and was carrying a small pink hand bag. "Hi!" she grinned, stepping into the elevator.

"Hi..." Chuck replied, confused as to why this child was talking to him.

As the elevator doors closed once more, she turned to him, "What's your name?"

"Uh...Chuck."

"Chuck who?" she persisted.

"Chuck Bass," he answered in amusement.

"Well hello Chuck Bass, I'm Laura Middleton," she replied, extending her hand towards him. He glanced down at the little girl's hand for a moment before reaching over and shaking it gently. "I'm eight by the way."

"Eight?" Chuck repeated, looking at her in concern. "Aren't you a little young to be riding in elevators by yourself?"

Laura looked offended for a moment then retorted with an eye roll, "I'm eight, not two."

"Of course," he grinned. "I'm terribly sorry."

"How about you apologize to me over dinner?" she proposed.

Chuck's head turned towards the child abruptly, "What?" It was at this moment that he realized that neither of them had a pressed a button so the elevator was going no where.

"You can take me out to dinner," Laura smiled as Chuck leaned over to press the button for the penthouse. "Can you press level 35 please?"

He pressed the number 35 button then looked back to her, "I think I'm a little old for you Laura."

"How old are you?" she asked curiously.

Children were always so full of questions, Chuck noted in amusement. "I'm 27."

She shrugged, "That's only...how many years difference?"

"If you have to think hard to work it out, that's too much," he replied. "And besides, I have a wife who I love very much."

"Oh," Laura pouted. "Do you have kids?"

"No."

"Are you going to have kids?"

"I-I don't know," Chuck stammered, not believing that he was getting interrogated by an eight-year-old. "I guess we will eventually- why do you want to know all of this?"

"I want to know you Chuck Bass," she replied simply.

"You do?"

She nodded. "Maybe you and your wife can come over for dinner some time," she suggested as the elevator doors opened.

"Uh, sure..." Chuck responded. He gestured to the open doors, "This is your floor."

Laura shook her head, "No it's not."

"Then why did you ask me to press the button for this floor?"

She shrugged with a giggle, "More time to talk." She leaned over and pressed a couple of the buttons.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Chuck asked, starting to feel frustrated that he was stuck in the elevator with this little girl. Now they would have to go to more levels until they reached the penthouse. He was already late, Blair was going to kill him.

"Now we have even more time to talk," she explained as the elevator doors shut once more.

"Why do you want to talk so much?" he questioned her. "Don't you have friends for that?"

She shook her head, "I don't have friends."

"Why not?"

"I don't relate well with people my own age," Laura explained. "That's what my therapist says anyway."

"Your therapist?"

"Uh huh."

"What could you possibly be in therapy for, you're eight?" Chuck wondered out loud.

She rolled her eyes. "I told you, I don't relate well with people my own age," she recited, as if it were a line she had memorized from a play.

As the elevator doors opened at level 23, Chuck groaned. He contemplated getting into another elevator, but he would feel bad if he left this obviously lonely little girl all alone when she just wanted someone to talk to. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?" he gave in as the doors of the elevator closed.

"What's your wife's name?"

"Her name is Blair."

"Blair...Bass?" she questioned. Chuck noticed a hint of jealousy in her voice.

He nodded, "That's right."

"Is she your best friend?"

"Yes, but don't tell my friend Nate that," he chuckled.

"Nate who?"

"Nate Archibald," he replied, not knowing why he was telling her all of this information.

"Is he married?" Laura asked hopefully.

"No but he's engaged to my step-sister Serena," he said. "Sorry kiddo."

"Don't call me that, I'm not a kid," she said strongly, a frown appearing on her face. Before Chuck had a chance to reply, the elevator doors then opened at level 11 and an elderly couple stepped in.

The woman looked surprised as she realized who Chuck was, "Mr Bass? What a pleasant surprise."

"It's not everyday you meet the owner of the hotel you're staying at in an elevator," the man added, reaching over and pressing the button for the ground floor. And down the elevator went again.

Laura gaped at Chuck, "You own this hotel?"

He nodded at her before turning back to the couple with a smile, "I trust that you're enjoying your stay?"

The woman nodded, "Oh very much. We just love New York."

"We're here for our 40th wedding anniversary," the man chimed in, putting his arm around his wife.

"Wow, 40 years," Chuck commented.

"He's married too," Laura jumped in, "Unfortunately. We were going to go out for dinner."

The couple laughed. "I think you have a little admirer Mr Bass," the woman smiled.

"Yes and I'm flattered but as I told her I'm very much in love with my wife," Chuck smiled. "You know what, as my anniversary gift to you, I want to shout you dinner at the hotel restaurant."

"Really?" the man asked in surprise as the elevator doors opened on the ground floor. They were back in the lobby where they had started from.

He nodded, "I'll make a call, order whatever you like."

"Thank you," the woman smiled. "That's very kind of you."

"My pleasure," Chuck replied. The couple thanked him once more before stepped out of the elevator, smiling happily. Chuck pulled out his phone and made a quick call to the restaurant, telling them to allow the couple to have whatever they wanted on the menu, plus whatever drinks they wanted on the house.

As he hung up the phone, Laura pouted at him, "You bought a couple of strangers dinner but you won't buy me dinner?"

"I don't think your parents would appreciate an absolute stranger taking their eight-year-old daughter to dinner," he told her. Seeing the glare on her face, he quickly added, "Not that there's anything wrong with being eight."

"And why didn't you tell me you owned this hotel?" she demanded.

"You never asked," Chuck smiled. "Look Laura, do you want to come have dinner with myself and Blair?"

"Really?" she exclaimed happily, a huge grin appearing on her face.

"If it's alright with your parents of course," he added.

"They don't care," she told him with a sad sigh. Chuck looked at her empathetically. He could relate to what this little girl had to deal with, having experienced the same thing growing up with Bart.

"I should still call and ask for their permission."

"Fine," Laura said, rummaging through her purse and pulling out a cell phone. She pressed a few buttons, then put the phone on speaker. After a few rings, a woman answered the phone sounding very pre-occupied. "Hi Mom."

"What do you want Laura?" she asked with a sigh. "I told you not to bother us tonight, your father and I are in an important dinner."

"I know, but I just wanted to tell you that Chuck and Blair Bass invited me over for dinner," she told them, giving Chuck a smile.

"Who?" her mother questioned her.

"Chuck owns the hotel," she explained. "I met him in the elevator."

"Do what you want okay?" she sighed in annoyance. "Just don't call again." And with that she hung up. Laura looked upset for a moment, before shutting her flip phone and discarding it in her bag.

Chuck just looked at her sadly, not knowing what to say. "Are you...okay?" he asked hesitantly as the elevator opened at yet another level.

She just shrugged, "I told you they wouldn't care."

He sighed, giving her a small smile and deciding to change the subject, "So what do you want for dinner? You're the guest so it's only right that you choose."

Laura thought for a moment before asking, "Can we have spaghetti?"

"Sure," he nodded with a grin, as the elevator finally ascended towards the penthouse. "I told you, it's your choice." They stood in silence for a few moments until the elevator opened yet again. "After you," Chuck said, gesturing for her to step into his penthouse apartment. She complied and he followed after her.

As they entered the living room, Blair looked up from her magazine from her seat on the lounge with a smile. When she saw who Chuck had with her, she gave him a confused look. "Chuck, you do realize you have a little girl with you?"

He nodded, giving his wife a quick kiss. "Blair, this is Laura."

She gave Chuck another strange look before smiling at the child hesitantly, "Hi Laura."

"Hi," she smiled, turning to Chuck. "She's really pretty Chuck Bass, I can see why you picked her over me."

Blair laughed, "What?"

Chuck turned red and he chuckled nervously, knowing that Blair was going to tease him about this later. "Uh Laura, why don't you go look at the room service menu? It's on the bench in the kitchen," he said, pointing her in the direction of the kitchen.

"Okay," she replied, before heading off to the kitchen happily.

When Laura was out of earshot, Blair turned to her husband with a quizzical look, "Care to explain?"

"I met her in the elevator on the way up here," Chuck started. "She started talking to me, asked me out-"

Blair giggled, "You got hit on by an 11-year-old?"

"She's eight actually," he corrected her.

"Really?" she asked in surprise. "She seems older."

"I know."

"Not old enough for you to be having an affair with Bass," Blair told him playfully.

He gave her a look, "That's disgusting. The point is, she seems like a pretty lonely kid. She's in therapy, her parents don't care what she does and she just wants some company."

She smiled at him sadly, reaching over to grab his hand, "You can relate, can't you?"

Chuck nodded, "Her parents seem as bad, if not worse than Bart was."

Blair leaned over and gave him a proper welcome home kiss. They had to be more discrete before since there was a minor in the room. As she pulled away from him, she smiled, "This is a really nice thing you're doing for this girl Chuck, but-"

"I knew there was a but."

She glared at him, "But are you sure her parents were okay with their daughter having dinner with a couple of strangers?"

"I told you, her parents didn't seem to care what she does," he replied.

"She's still someone else's child," Blair pointed out. "The last thing we need right now is to be arrested for kidnapping."

"Well I can't tell her to get out now," Chuck said. "I told her she could have dinner with us."

"I know what I want Chuck Bass!" a voice called out from behind them.

They turned to look at Laura, who was standing in the doorway holding the room service menu. "Okay, first of all just call me Chuck," he told her. "Secondly, I hope you've chosen a dessert. You can't have dinner without dessert."

"I was looking but I can't choose between a brownie or a piece of apple pie," Laura replied.

"Get both," Chuck said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

She smiled, "Thanks Chuck Ba- I mean Chuck."

"No problem," he said, turning back to Blair who was looking at him in awe.

"Chuck," Blair whispered with a smile, playing with his tie. "You're so sweet with her."

He smiled and replied softly, "We're not getting into the baby conversation again are we?"

"Well last time we talked about it, we agreed that we'd wait another year to have a baby, and it's been over a year..." she whispered back.

"We'll talk about this later," he murmered in her ear, before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Come on Laura, why don't you come watch TV with Blair while I order dinner?"

"Okay," Laura grinned, skipping over to them and planting herself down on the lounge.

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**I really don't know where this is going. I just had this idea so I went with it and this was the result. This will probably only be a maximum of two or three chapter by the way. Please review and tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter. So this is going to be at least 3 chapters. It will probably end up longer than that knowing me but I'll see where it goes. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think.**

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Blair and Chuck watched in amusement as the little girl seated across from them twirled her spaghetti around her fork carefully, then brought the fork to her mouth, trying not to get pasta sauce all over her face. In Chuck's few experiences of children, he had never seen a child eat as carefully and neatly as Laura was right now. Any other kid would be wolfing down their pasta like there was no tomorrow.

"Are you enjoying that sweetheart?" Blair smiled, taking a bite of her penne.

Laura nodded enthusiastically, "This is my favourite thing on the menu."

"How do you know it's your favourite if you haven't tried everything?" she challenged her teasingly.

"Oh I have."

"You couldn't have," Chuck interjected, looking up from his lasagna. "I've lived here for over 8 years and I haven't tried everything on the menu."

"Well I have," she shrugged, twirling more spaghetti around her fork.

"Do you live in the hotel Laura?" Blair asked curiously.

She nodded, "Uh-huh."

Chuck realized that she must live on the 38th level of the hotel, two levels down from the penthouse. That level contained around 20 apartments that were rented out on a yearly basis. "How long have you lived here?"

"About 6 months."

"Do you like it here?" he asked.

"I guess so," Laura said, putting another fork-ful of spaghetti into her mouth. She chewed her food and swallowed before continuing, "There's not much to do in this hotel though. I always see grown-ups at the bar but when I tried to go in there one time a man told me I wasn't allowed in there."

"Yeah, that's a no kids area," Blair explained.

"Well that's not very fair," she pouted.

"Don't worry, it's not that exciting," Chuck insisted.

Laura suddenly had an idea, "Hey Chuck?"

"Yes Laura," he responded, amused at how they had only known each other for a little over an hour, yet she was acting like they had known each other for years.

"Do you think now that we're friends you can get me into the bar?"

He shook his head, "Sorry, unfortunately that's one matter that's entirely out of my hands."

"What do you mean?" she frowned.

"The law says you can't be in there," he explained.

"Oh."

"So, do you have any brothers or sisters Laura?" She asked, changing the subject.

She shook her head, "Nope it's just me."

"Well that's another thing we all have in common," Chuck smiled. "Blair and I are only children as well."

"Didn't you say you have a sister?" Laura asked in confusion.

"I have a step-sister," he corrected her. "And a step-brother."

"And your step-sister's name is Serena right?"

"Yes."

"And she's engaged to Nate Archibald?"

"That must have been an intense talk in that elevator," Blair commented, impressed at the amount of information the little girl had gotten out of Chuck in such a short period of time. It usually took him much longer to open up to new people about his life.

"We had a good talk, didn't we Chuck?" Laura replied, turning to him with a grin.

"We did," he agreed.

"And now we're friends," she continued. "My therapist is going to be so happy that I've made friends."

"You don't have any other friends?" Blair asked sadly.

She looked at her suspiciously, "You ask a lot of questions Blair Bass."

"I'm very inquisitive."

"What does that mean?"

"I like to ask questions," she explained simply, chuckling at the irony of the girl's statement. She hadn't stopped asking questions all night.

"I don't relate well with people my own age," Laura recited again.

"I don't see why, you seem like a lovely girl," Blair smiled, finishing off her pasta.

"People at school don't like me," she told her. "They think I'm weird."

Chuck frowned, "I'm sure they don't think you're weird."

"Why do you think that?" Blair added.

She rolled her eyes, "Because they told me so."

Blair gave the girl a sympathetic smile, "Well they don't know what they're missing. Chuck and I think you're wonderful."

"We do," Chuck agreed.

"Well I think you're both wonderful too," Laura grinned, setting her fork down on her plate. She looked up at them, "I think it's time for dessert."

"You read my mind," Chuck smiled, taking the numerous plates of different desserts off the trolley that was sitting beside the table. There was about eight different desserts on the table before them. Chuck had over-ordered because he wanted Laura to have a good night, which involved her having a range of choices from the dessert menu.

Laura reached for the plate with a chocolate brownie on it, then pulled her hand back, looking up at Chuck sheepishly, "May I?"

"Go for your life," he nodded. After letting Laura have her pick of the table, Blair and Chuck picked a plate each and got stuck into their desserts. They were silent for a moment, until the little girl brought up an entirely new topic.

"So, when are you guys going to have babies?"

Chuck choked on his lemon meringue pie and started coughing. Blair patted him on the back, "Are you okay?" He nodded, coughing a few more times before reached for his glass of water and taking a large gulp of it. "Chuck doesn't like talking about the topic of babies," Blair explained, directing her statement more towards her husband than Laura.

"Why not?" she asked in surprise. "Babies are so cute."

"Yeah Chuck, why not?" Blair teased, resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand.

He set down his glass and shot his wife a glare. "I have nothing against babies, I just don't feel like I'm ready to be a father."

"But you'd be a good Daddy," Laura insisted.

"I think so too," Blair added, giving him a knowing look. She'd lost count of the amount of times she had tried to convince him of the exact same thing.

"How about I get back to you on the baby thing?" Chuck said, not wanting to get into his reasons for delaying parenthood in front of an eight-year-old he had just met.

"I think you should have a baby now," Laura said.

"So do I," Blair agreed.

"It's two against one," she told him. "That means you lose. You have to have a baby now."

"So I get no choice in this?" Chuck asked in disbelief.

"Nope," his wife smirked, grabbing his hand under the table.

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Half an hour later, Chuck, Blair and Laura had relocated to the couch in the living room. "What do you want to do now Laura?" he asked her.

She shrugged, "I dont know."

"Why don't you set up the Playstation?" Blair suggested, refering to the device that sat in their entertainment unit barely used. The only time she and Chuck had ever used it was when they had just gotten back from their honeymoon a little over three years ago. In between the many hours they spent in the bedroom for those couple of weeks, they would have to come into the living room every now and then to eat. They somehow ended up versing each other at some racing game that they assumed that Nate had left behind when he moved out.

"What games do you have?" she asked curiously.

"We only have one game," Chuck admitted, beginning to rummage through the entertainment unit. "We don't really use it much."

"Why do you have it if you don't use it?"

"I don't know, we just do," he shrugged, pulling the controllers out of the cupboard. "Are you both ready to get your asses kicked?"

"Chuck!" Blair scolded.

He nodded, "You're right, that was a bit harsh."

"No- well yes, but what I meant is that we don't use that word in front of our guest," she explained.

"Right," he replied. "Are you ready to get your _butts_ kicked?" he corrected himself, plugging the Playstation in and turning it on.

"Please," Laura rolled her eyes. "You really think I haven't heard that word before? There is a little thing called television."

Blair just looked at the girl in surprise and Chuck laughed and handed his wife a controller, "Let's see what you've got Waldorf."

She lowered her eyes at him as he handed Laura a controller, then sat down beside them with his own controller. Now that they were married, it always bugged her when Chuck called her that. She was a very traditional person by nature, so when they had gotten married she wanted to be a Bass. "I could totally beat you."

He scoffed as the game started up and retorted sarcastically, "Okay Blair."

45 minutes later, Blair had won 4 races, Laura had won an impressive 6 races and Chuck hadn't won any. Blair high-fived the little girl, before turning to him with a tauting grin, "Who's kicking whose butt now?"

"Excuse me, but I was being a gentleman and letting you ladies win," he lied, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Since when are you a gentleman?" she teased.

"Don't worry Chuck," Laura started, "We'll go easy on you in the next round."

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Blair and Chuck stepped out of the elevator onto the 38th floor of the Empire. They were escorting Laura back to her apartment. It was almost 10 o'clock so Blair and Chuck hoped that her parents wouldn't be angry at them for keeping their daughter out past her bedtime. The little girl stopped in front of apartment #389. "This is it," she said, turning back around to face her new-found friends.

"We had a really good time tonight Laura," Blair smiled, feeling like the three of them were on a really awkward first date.

"So did I," she grinned at them. "Thank you for inviting me Chuck."

"Anytime kiddo," he replied, receiving a deadly glare from the eight-year-old. "Sorry I forgot, you're not a kid."

"That's right," she nodded. Unexpectedly, Laura threw her arms around Chuck's waist, hugging him tightly. "Goodnight Chuck Bass."

He was surprised for a moment, but smiled and patted her on the back awkwardly. Blair looked on with a silent 'aw'. "Goodnight Laura."

Laura then pulled away from Chuck and reached up to hug Blair, "Goodnight Blair Bass."

"Goodnight honey," she smiled, leaning down to hug the little girl.

Laura pulled away with a smile and knocked on the door of the suite. She waited a moment, before knocking louder. The door still didn't open. "They musn't be home yet," she concluded with a shrug.

"Do you have a key?" Blair asked in concern, not believing that any parent would leave their 8-year-old alone until 10 o'clock at night.

She nodded, reaching into her handbag, "Yep." She pulled out a key card and put it into the slot in the door. They heard a beep, then Laura removed the card and opened the door. "I'll see you later," Laura said with a wave.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" Chuck asked worriedly, stepping into the doorway and taking a look around. The apartment looked perfectly tidy and like any other normal upper-class New York apartment. He didn't know why, but he hoped to find something incriminating like used siringes or something that indicated that a neglected child lived here. However it seemed like Laura's parents were providing for her physical needs, just not her emotional ones, not unlike Bart did for him when he was growing up. But at least Bart had the decency to leave him with a nanny when he was younger, Laura's parents didn't seem to care enough to even do that.

"I'm fine, I'm always in here by myself," she insisted, discarding her handbag on the kitchen bench.

Chuck nodded and stepped back out of the apartment reluctantly, "Okay."

"Bye," Laura said, beginning to shut the door. Blair and Chuck just waved as the door shut.

As soon as the door shut, Chuck grabbed his wife's hand and led her a few feet down the hallway so Laura wouldn't be able to hear them. "What are we going to do about this Blair?" he asked, once they were far enough away.

"What can we do Chuck? She's not our child," she pointed out.

"We have to do something," he argued. "Maybe she should stay with us for the night-"

"No Chuck, we can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's one thing to have her over for dinner, but to have her spend the night-"

"We can't just leave her here all alone," Chuck replied.

"We have to," Blair told him, rubbing his shoulders with the palms of her hands. He sighed. "She's a smart kid, she's not going to do anything stupid. And besides, her parents will be home eventually-"

He scoffed, "I doubt it."

"Look, we don't even know these people," Blair continued. "Isn't it possible that Laura was exhaggerating about her parents just a bit? It may not be as bad as we think it is."

"It's not like that and you know it Blair," he argued, his voice rising in volume.

"Keep your voice down," she said. "We don't want her to hear us."

Chuck took a deep breath before grabbing Blair's hands in his own and telling her seriously, "I can't just leave her here."

"I know sweetie, believe me I know," she replied sympathetically, "But we can't let her stay with us. Try to think rationally here for a minute."

"It's hard to think rationally when my first instinct is to get that girl out of there."

"Chuck."

He sighed, "Fine." He let go of her hands and started making his way back towards the door of Laura's apartment.

Blair's eyes widened in alarm, "What are you doing?"

"Relax," he told her, knocking on the door before Blair could stop him.

"Do not tell me to relax Chuck Bass," she hissed. "Were you listening to anything that I just said?"

Blair immediately put on a fake smile when the door swung open, "Hi Laura."

She looked at them in confusion, "You're back?"

"Just for a second," Chuck replied. "Can I have your cellphone for a minute please?"

"Sure," Laura said without hesitation, reaching into her handbag that she had left on the kitchen bench and handing the phone to Chuck. It surprised Blair how much this little girl already trusted herself and Chuck, having only known them for one night. "Why do you need it?"

Chuck flipped open the phone and began to enter in numbers, "I'm going to put both mine and Blair's cellphone numbers in here okay?"

"Okay..."

"If you ever need anything, anything at all, just call one of us and we'll come and help you," he told her, closing the phone and handing it back to her. She nodded. "You can go to bed now, sorry for keeping you awake."

"That's okay," Laura said with a small smile.

"Have a good sleep honey," Blair told her.

She nodded, "You too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," they replied in unison, as the door shut for the second time that night.

Blair took Chuck's hand and led him back towards the elevator, "Come on, let's go home."

"This feels wrong Blair," he told her with a worried look.

"We've done all we can do," she insisted as they reached the elevator. "She'll call if she needs us." She leaned over and pressed the button for the elevator. She wrapped her arms around his waist, "You're cute when you worry."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, "Am I now?"

"Mm-hm," she muttered, looking up at him with her chin rested on his chest. Blair noticed that he still looked pre-occupied. "I love you," she said softly, hoping that the words would comfort him in some way.

Chuck glanced back down at her and kissed her on the forehead, "I love you too." They suddenly heard a _ding_ and the elevator doors opened. The elevator was empty to Chuck's relief. He really didn't feel like making small talk with strangers. He took his wife by the hand and led her into the elevator. Blair pressed the button for the penthouse and they both leant against the back of the lift beside each other.

Blair took his hand in her own, "So Bass, are you ready to make babies with me?"

"Oh I get a choice now do I?" he replied teasingly. She nodded. "Can't we just practice the art of baby-making?"

"We've been practicing for the last 10 years," she pointed out. "I think we have it down." He sighed. "Do you not want to have a baby with me?"

"Of course I do," Chuck insisted, as the elevator doors opened and they stepped back into their penthouse.

"Then what's the problem?"

"I dont know. Just give me some time to think this through okay?"

"Fine," Blair replied bluntly. She made her way into their bedroom, leaving Chuck standing next to the bar. He knew that she was getting impatient with him and that he was being selfish. Blair had waited a year and a half for him to come to terms with this and he still couldn't commit to having children. Chuck knew all of this and hated himself for doing this to his wife, but he still couldn't say that he was ready to be a father.

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**Reviews would be great :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the long wait but here's the next chapter. I'm just letting you all know that this story is just something I randomly started writing so it's not my top priority. I update my other Chuck and Blair story, 'The Unexpected' more frequently and this one when I have time. So updates for this story are going to be really irregular, sorry :(**

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Over the next month, Blair and Chuck had gotten to know Laura better. Since her parents weren't around much, she had been having dinner with them at least once or twice a week. Blair had also taken Laura shopping a few times and she was regularly coming over to play video games with Chuck. It was safe to say that they were getting pretty attached to this little girl and were extremely concerned about her wellbeing with her parents constantly leaving her alone to fend for herself. The amount of time they had been spending with Laura had led to a few more baby conversations, but Chuck continued to fail to give his wife a straight answer about whether he was ready to have a baby.

One Wednesday night at around 10:30, Blair and Chuck were sitting at home watching television when Chuck's cellphone began to ring. Blair picked it up from the coffee table, looked at the caller id then handed it to him, "It's from an unknown number."

He looked at the screen of the phone curiously, before answering and putting it to his ear, "Hello?"

"Chuck?" a small voice said.

He immediately sat up straight, already beginning to worry, "Laura, is that you?"

"Yes it's me," she replied softly. "I know it's late but you told me to call you if I needed you-"

"Don't be ridiculous, it's fine," he insisted, giving Blair a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I just called my mom to ask her when she was coming home," she started. She paused before adding, "She told me that they decided to go to Italy for a couple of days and they left tonight."

"Italy?" Chuck repeated in disbelief.

"What's going on?" Blair whispered in concern.

He waved her off, "I'm going to come get you okay? You can stay with Blair and I tonight." Blair gave her husband an alarmed look. "Pack a bag with clothes and whatever else you need and I'll come and get you in a few minutes."

"Okay," Laura replied greatfully. "Thank you Chuck."

"No problem," he said. "I'll see you soon." And with that he hung up the phone and made his way to the elevator, with Blair following close behind.

"What happened?" she asked in confusion.

"Laura's parents have gone to Italy tonight and left her all alone, that's what happened," Chuck explained, pressing the button to the elevator again as if that would make it come faster.

"Oh my God," Blair commented. "I thought our parents were bad, but when they took off around the world they at least left us with nannies."

"I'm going to go get her," he told her as the elevator doors opened. He gave her a quick kiss before stepping inside.

She nodded and told him without hesitation, "I'll go set up the guest bedroom."

"Thank you Blair," Chuck said greatfully. He was so glad that she was being so understanding. She gave him a small smile as the elevator closed.

* * *

Chuck returned 15 minutes later with a pajama-clad Laura clutching a teddy bear to her chest tightly. He carried her small backpack that contained clothes and other items that would last for the next two or three days. "Blair," he called out, leading Laura to the guest bedroom where she was busy putting a pillow case on one of their spare pillows. "We have a guest," he told her, looking down to the little girl with a comforting smile.

"I can see that," Blair smiled, placing the pillow down at the top of the bed. "Are you okay Laura?"

She nodded, "Thank you for letting me stay here."

"No thanks necessary, you're always welcome here," she replied. "Now why don't you try and get some sleep, it's getting late."

"Blair's set up a bed especially for you," Chuck told her, gesturing to the newly-made bed. "She doesn't make beds very often so consider yourself lucky," he added, receiving a glare from his wife.

Laura giggled sleepily as she set her teddy down on the bed before taking off her shoes and putting them neatly on the floor beside the bed. Blair pulled back the covers of the bed, waited for her to get in then put the blanket over her. "Goodnight sweetie," she smiled, patting her on the head. "If you need anything, we're in the room across from yours."

"Good night Blair, good night Chuck," she replied with a yawn.

"Goodnight," Chuck replied, taking Blair by the hand and leading her towards the door. He turned out the light and shut the door behind them. He looked to Blair sleepily, "Bed?"

"Bed," she agreed with a nod as they made their way to their bedroom.

"Do you think we did the right thing Blair?" he asked her as he kicked off his shoes and began to unbutton his shirt.

She nodded, moving over to him and putting her arms around his neck, "I think so. I hope we did." He smirked, running his hand up her back under her blouse. "Chuck, we can't do that," she said, swatting his hand away. "Laura's in the next room and can come in at any minute."

"So once we have kids, we can never have sex again in case they walk in on us?"

"That's different."

"How's it different?"

"Because it's our own children we would be corrupting, not someone else's," Blair explained, poking him playfully. "Why are we even talking about this? We need to get pregnant first."

"Blair..."

"I know that I'm being pushy but I think I'm being pretty reasonable," she cut him off. "I've waited for you to tell me that you're ready for so long and it's been so frustrating to see you with Laura."

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked.

"I mean that you are ready for kids Chuck, you just can't see it," Blair explained. "You're so good with Laura and I know you would be an amazing father."

"You don't know that," he argued. "What if I end up being the same kind of father to our kids that my father was to me?"

"You won't be," she insisted, looking at at him sincerely. "Is that what you've been worrying about? That you're going to turn into your father?"

Chuck looked away, avoiding her eyes. "This is a big decision. I just think that we should think about it more before deciding to do it."

Blair shook her head, "I'm tired of thinking about it. I'm ready for this and so are you." He looked at her skeptically. "Trust me," she added. She let go of him before heading towards the bathroom, "Come on."

Chuck followed her into the bathroom in confusion and found her taking her pills out of the bathroom cupboard. She threw them into the trash and looked back up at him, "As of tomorrow, I'm going off the Pill." Blair waited for his reaction, expecting a lot of drama to unfold.

To her surprise he just nodded, "Okay."

She peered at him curiously, "Really?"

Chuck nodded, planting a kiss on her forehead, "Whatever you want."

"What about what you want?" she asked softly.

"I want this," he told her. "It's scary that it's actually happening but I can't be scared my entire life."

Blair smiled, "I think we should focus on helping Laura at the moment though."

"That's not going to take up all of our time," Chuck pointed out. "I'm sure we can fit in some baby-making."

"We may be able to squeeze that in," she nodded excitedly. She grabbed onto the collar of his pajama top and asked, "So we're really doing this? No more thinking about it?"

"No more thinking about it," he confirmed with a smile.

Blair kissed him happily, "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that."

* * *

The next morning, Blair asked Cyrus to come over to ask him what she and Chuck could do in relation to Laura. She had made him swear that he wouldn't tell Eleanor about any of this, knowing that her mother wouldn't understand. Blair greeted him as Cyrus stepped out of the elevator. "Thanks for coming over," she told him, giving him a quick hug.

"Anytime sweetheart," he told her. "Now where's the little lady?"

"She's in the living room with Chuck," she replied, leading him into the room.

"Hello Cyrus," Chuck greeted him from his place on the couch beside Laura. They were playing the Playstation yet again. Chuck had sent someone to get a few more games for them a couple of hours ago and they had been playing ever since. The little girl took advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration and began pressing the buttons on the controlled frantically, killing Chuck's player on the screen.

"Yes! I won!" she grinned.

He glared at her, "You cheated, I was distracted."

She shook her head, "I didn't cheat. It's not my fault you can't concentrate on the game and talk at the same time."

Cyrus chuckled at the way Chuck interacted with the child. "You must be Laura," he said kindly.

She looked to him with a smile, "Yep, who are you?"

"This is my step-father Cyrus," Blair explained. Knowing what she was going to ask next she added, "Cyrus Rose."

"Hi Cyrus Rose," Laura said, reaching over to shake his hand. This time, Chuck decided to use this to his advantage and began shooting at Laura's player, killing it and winning the round.

"Now who's the champion?" he mocked as her jaw dropped open.

"You cheated!"

"I did not."

"You did too!"

"Okay," Blair interjected. "Before a fight breaks out, can Cyrus and I see you in the other room please Chuck?"

He looked over to her and nodded, "Sure."

"I'll be practicing," Laura taunted as Chuck stood up and set the controller down on the coffee table.

* * *

"Thanks for coming Cyrus," Chuck nodded as the three of them entered the kitchen.

"No problem, it looks like you two need the help," he commented. "This is quite a situation you've gotten yourselves into."

"What do you mean?" Blair asked worriedly.

"Well technically you're keeping Laura here without her parents consent," he told her. "That could be considered kidnapping."

Her eyes widened in alarm. "But we didn't kidnap her," Chuck protested. "She called us for help when her parents abandoned her, what were we supposed to do?"

"I'm not criticising you," Cyrus replied. "It's just legally, this is just a compromising situation."

"So what do we do?" Blair asked with a sigh.

"The only way to avoid any legal issues would be to get a court order to remove Laura from her parent's custody," he explained. "We would need Laura to explain her situation to a judge and he would decide whether or not she is being neglected."

"But where would she go?" she questioned.

He shrugged, "To another relative perhaps? You'll have to look into her extended family. She might have an uncle or cousin or someone else that can take care of her either temporarily or on a more permanent basis."

"I'm not giving her to just anyone," Chuck shook his head.

"It would have to be someone that Laura knows and trusts," Cyrus nodded. "We're not just handing her off to anyone who comes in and claims her."

"Could she stay with us?" he asked. Blair looked at him in surprise.

"With you?"

He nodded, "We could take care of her, she loves us."

"I don't know Chuck," Blair replied uncertainly. "It's a big responsibility."

"It's just as big of a responsibility as having a baby," he pointed out. "You're more than willing to do that so what's the difference?"

"It's a big difference," she insisted. "Look, I know you want to save this girl from going through what you went through but we can't just take her. She's not a puppy you found on the street, she is someone else's child."

"Why don't we all try to calm down," Cyrus reasoned. "I think we need to talk to Laura. We need to know the whole story before we can do anything."

* * *

"Hey sweetie," Blair smiled as she Chuck and Cyrus came back into the living room. "Can we talk to you for a minute?"

Laura nodded, setting down the Playstation controller, "Sure." Blair sat down beside her and picked up the remote to turn the television off. Cyrus and Chuck took a seat on the other lounge.

Chuck cleared his throat, "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but we need to know more about your parents."

The little girl was silent for a moment, nervously glancing over at Blair, who gave her a reassuring smile. Laura turned back to Chuck and asked softly, "What do you want to know?"

There was an awkward silence before he finally asked, "Do they go away and leave you like this often?" She shrugged.

"It's important that you tell us everything Laura," Cyrus spoke up. "If we're going to help you, we need to know."

"Help me?" she repeated. "How are you going to do that?"

The adults all exchanged looks, wondering how much they should tell the eight-year-old. "Laura," Blair started gently, "We're going to try to find you somewhere else to live for a little while."

Her eyes widened in panic, "Where am I going to go?"

"We don't know yet," Chuck answered, shaking his head. "Do you have any uncles or aunts? Or grandparents maybe?"

"My grandparents are all dead and I only have one aunt that I don't know very well," Laura explained. "Can't I just stay here with you? We're friends aren't we?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Blair replied. "We would love to have you but we're not your family-"

"And Blair prefers that we have our own baby," Chuck interjected bitterly.

She stared at him in disbelief, "Chuck."

Cyrus shook his head disapprovingly, "Now is not the time to bring up your personal issues Charles."

He nodded, feeling guilty about what he had just said, "You're right. I'm sorry Blair." She just shrugged, obviously still upset with him.

"I think I should leave," Laura announced, jumping up from the couch.

"No," Chuck protested.

"Don't leave," Blair insisted.

She frowned sadly, "I'm just causing trouble. I don't want you guys being mad at each other because of me."

"This isn't about you," she shook her head. "Chuck and I have our own problems to work through, but I assure you that they have nothing to do with you."

"Why don't you sit back down dear?" Cyrus asked with a friendly smile, gesturing back to the couch. She sat back down reluctantly. He looked from Chuck to Blair, "I think I should talk to Laura in private."

"What?" Chuck asked in disbelief.

"Why?" Blair added.

"We need to have a calm conversation and we can't do that with you two in the room," Cyrus explained.

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed, standing up from the couch. She patted Laura on the shoulder, "We'll be in the other room, okay?"

"Okay," she answered quietly.

"Come on Chuck," Blair instructed without looking at him. She stormed out of the room and into their bedroom with her husband following close behind.

As soon as she got into the bedroom, she sat down at the end of their bed and folded her arms angrily. Chuck entered a moment later, shutting the door behind them. "Blair," he began, taking a seat beside her on the bed.

"I can't believe you said that to her," she snapped, before he could continue. "Do you realize how that makes me look?"

"I'm sorry," he offered sincerely, trying to take her hand but she pulled it away. "I was angry and I wasn't thinking."

Blair shot him a glare, "Well you upset Laura and you upset me."

"I know, you have no idea how sorry I am," Chuck apologized again.

"You know what, maybe I do only want to have our own baby," she started with a shrug. "Maybe I want to have a normal family for once in my life. Maybe I want to have a family that isn't one of the main sources of scandal on the Upper East Side. I don't think there's anything wrong with that!"

"Of course there's not," he agreed. "Drama just has a habit of finding us."

Blair shook her head, trying to prevent the tears that had formed in her eyes from falling, "I don't want drama Chuck! I've had more than enough of it in my life and there's only so much I can take."

"I understand that," Chuck replied. "But Laura needs our help, we can't just ignore this."

"Why do we have to? Why is it our responsibility?"

"Because she asked for our help Blair," he told her, not believing the words that were coming out of her mouth. "Where else is she going to go?"

"She has an aunt," she pointed out. "We can get into contact with her."

"An aunt who she barely knows," Chuck argued, trying not to raise his voice.

"Well she obviously knows her better than she knows us," she retorted, wiping away a tear from her cheek. "We've only known her for a month."

"She wants to stay with us."

"She's a little girl, she doesn't know what she wants."

"That's not true," he replied. "Look, I know I have no right to ask you to do this, but I am. Actually I'm begging you." He took her hand and looked her in the eyes, "Please help me fight for her."

Blair shook her head, "I don't know..."

"Please," Chuck repeated, kissing her hand. "I promise that we can still have the family that you want. We can have a baby...we can even have ten babies if that's what you want." She smiled a little. "All I'm asking is for you to make room in that family for a little girl who needs us."

She looked at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes. She immediately knew what she had to do. "Okay," she nodded.

He immediately lit up at that word. "Really?"

Blair nodded again and commented, "The things I do for you Chuck Bass."

He grinned, before leaning in to kiss her, "I love you so much. You are the most amazing, understanding, incredible woman ever."

"Hardly," she replied, giving him a small smile. She then shifted closer to him and rested her head on his chest.

Chuck put his arms around her, kissing her on the top of her head and insisted, "You are. I'm never going to forget this."

"You'd better not," Blair muttered. "I'm going to hold you to that ten babies promise."

He chuckled softly, "Okay maybe not ten. My limit is two."

"Two? How about four?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked. "We're going to have to move into a six bedroom place to hold all of these kids."

"I don't mind, I'd love to have a big family," Blair replied, smiling at the thought.

"What about three?" Chuck offered. She lifted her head off his chest and looked at him with a pout. "I'm willing to compromise if you are."

"Okay, I'll settle for three," she nodded. They sat talking for the next ten or fifteen minutes until there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Blair said, looking up at the door expectantly. The door opened and Cyrus stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.

"How did it go?" Chuck asked.

"Well," Cyrus began, taking a few steps forward. "This is definitely going to get messy."

* * *

**Please review and tell me what you think :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just so you all know, I'm not familiar with the legal process of having a child removed from their parents so I'm not going to go into much detail about it. I'm going to focus more on the emotional impact of the situation and try to explain what's going on as best as I can. Don't forget to review!**

* * *

"What happened?" Blair asked her step-father gently.

"Well apparently this isn't the first time Laura's parents have left her alone," Cyrus started. "She told me that it's been happening for as long as she can remember, but they left her with a nanny up until she was around five years old."

"Because five is the new eighteen," she retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Cyrus took a deep breath and continued, "She's also left alone a lot at night and she makes her own way to and from school in a cab."

"What can we do Cyrus?" Chuck interjected, not sure that he wanted to know any more.

"I'm going to organise a meeting with a judge at the courthouse tomorrow morning," he replied. "I think we should have this taken care of before Laura's parents come home on Tuesday." He paused. "The judge will want to speak with Laura and the both of you. They'll also need to do a background check on you, just to make sure you don't have a criminal record. If that's successful, the judge should grant you temporary custody over Laura until the case goes to court at a later date."

"Okay, just let us know when and we'll be there," he responded, standing up from the bed. Blair also stood up. "Thank you for all your help," Chuck said, extending his hand towards him.

Cyrus shook his hand, "No thanks necessary, this is family."

"Speaking of," Blair started. "Can you not tell my mother about this yet? I doubt she would approve of all of this and I really don't want to have to deal with her yet."

"But your mother and I tell each other everything," he protested. "We don't keep secrets from one another. That's the trick to a healthy marriage you know."

She sighed, "Well that's nice, but couldn't you just keep this secret for us for a little while?"

"I guess I could try," Cyrus gave in.

Blair hugged him gratefully, "Thank you."

The three adults suddenly heard a creaking sound and turned to see Laura opening the door of the bedroom. "So," she started with an innocent smile, "What are we going to do today?"

Blair thought for a moment, before asking her, "Have you ever been to the circus?"

* * *

A couple of hours later, Blair, Chuck and Laura found themselves inside a massive circus tent just outside the city. As they entered the tent, Blair looked up in amazement. "You know," she started, grabbing Chuck's arm. "I don't think I've been to the circus since I was a little girl."

"We haven't been to the circus since that field trip in third grade," he reminded her, as he tried to keep his eye on Laura. She was skipping few feet ahead of them excitedly, holding her cotton candy.

"I remember that," she replied, giving him an amused look. "You and Nate had a fight outside when the show ended and you pushed him in the mud."

He chuckled, "And then you got mad at me because his shirt that you bought him for his birthday got ruined."

"That's right," Blair smiled as they followed Laura through the crowds of people. "I refused to speak to you for a week after that."

"I was devastated," Chuck retorted. "And that's when I discovered that a life without Blair Waldorf is a life that's not worth living."

"Aww, really?"

"No," he scoffed, offering her the bag of popcorn he was holding. "Come on, I was eight."

"You're an ass," she replied. She snatched the popcorn from him with a playful glare.

"An ass that you willingly married," Chuck pointed out with a smirk.

Blair was about to respond when Laura turned around, and pointed to a row of seats, "Are these seats okay?"

"Looks good to me," Chuck replied, gesturing for her to sit down. He stepped back and allowed Blair to sit down next, before taking a seat beside his wife.

"Are you okay sweetie?" Blair asked, turning to look at the little girl. "Is there anything else we can get you?"

She shook her head, "I'm okay for now." She continued eating her cotton candy.

"Well if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask okay?" Chuck told her.

Laura nodded, "Okay Chuck."

"Did Cyrus explain what's going to happen tomorrow?" Blair asked her gently as Chuck leaned forward to look at the girl curiously.

"Just that I have to speak to the judge about my Mom and Dad," she replied. "I just have to tell him exactly what I told Cyrus."

"That's right," she nodded, with a comforting smile. "Do you have any questions about all of this?"

Laura paused, thinking for a moment. Blair and Chuck shared a brief look. "Am I going to be in trouble?" she asked softly, her blue eyes looking at them worriedly.

"Of course not," Chuck insisted. "Why would you be in trouble?"

"Because I told on them."

Blair's heart broke when she heard what the little girl was saying to them. She took a deep breath before telling her sincerely, "Laura, you've done nothing wrong okay?" When Laura nodded in reply, she continued, "None of this is your fault. You did the right thing by coming to us about your parents."

"But I've caused so much trouble," she pointed out, looking down sadly.

"Hey," Chuck started gently, causing her to look back up at him. "You're no trouble. Blair and I are more than happy to be helping you, aren't we?" He glanced at his wife.

She nodded, standing by the promise she had made to him earlier, "Absolutely."

They were all silent for a moment, until Chuck spoke up, "I think that's enough serious talk for today. Why don't we try to enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day?"

"Well that's not going to be hard. I mean, we are at the circus," Blair pointed out enthusiastically, offering Laura the large bag of popcorn.

She took a handful, giving Blair a grateful smile. "I want to see the clowns!" she announced excitedly.

"I want to see the elephants," she replied. "I think they're cute."

"What a coincidence," Chuck interjected. "That's why I want to see the trapeze artists." She gave him a look. "What? I hear that they're unbelieveably flexible," he pointed out innocently, winking at her.

"I've never been more proud to call you the future father of my children," she replied sarcastically. He just smirked at her. She turned back to Laura, who luckily didn't seem to be paying much attention to what they were saying.

"Look, look!" she exclaimed, tapping Blair on the shoulder excitedly. "It's starting!"

Sure enough, the circus music that had been playing the background had started playing louder and the lights had been dimmed and replaced with spotlights. As they watched the clowns, elephants and various other circus acts, Blair grabbed Chuck's hand, squeezing it tightly. He glanced over at her with a smile, which she returned.

* * *

They returned home at around 9:30 that night, after stopping for dinner on their way home. As the limo pulled up in front of the Empire, Chuck yawned, "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

Blair smiled, "I think someone knows how you feel." She gestured to Laura, who had fallen asleep beside them with her head leaning on the car window.

He smiled, "I guess she's not as grown up as she makes out to be."

"I guess not."

"Should we wake her up?" Chuck asked Blair.

She nodded, "I guess, we can't stay in here all night." Their driver opened the door of the limo and she looked to him, "Just a minute Arthur."

Blair observed as her husband contemplated how he was going to wake the child up. He reached over to tap her on the shoulder, but pulled back his hand at the last second. He turned back to a very amused Blair and stated, "I'm just going to carry her inside."

She smiled, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek, "I thought that you might say that." She then proceeded to get out of the limo, thanking Arthur for his patience. Chuck picked Laura up, before backing up out of the limo, careful not to drop her.

When they got into the elevator, Blair couldn't help but look at her husband with a smile. "Blair," Chuck started.

"Yes darling husband of mine?" she replied sweetly.

"Stop looking at me like that" he chuckled.

"I can't help it, you're just too cute with her," she gushed.

He shook his head in amusement, "Men with kids, is that every woman's weakness?"

"Pretty much," Blair nodded.

"Why didn't I use this strategy back in high school?" Chuck teased as the elevator doors opened at their floor.

"Come on Bass," she instructed as they stepped out of the elevator. "Let's get her to bed."

"I'm right behind you," he murmered as she led him into the spare bedroom that Laura now occupied.

Blair turned on the light, before making her way over to the double bed. She pulled down the covers of the bed slightly and Chuck set Laura down, before removing her shoes. "Don't worry about pajamas, I don't want to wake her up," Blair told him as she pulled the covers over Laura. They watched her for a moment, before Blair grabbed Chuck's hand and whispered, "Come on."

He nodded and they made their way out of the room, turning off the light and shutting the door behind them. Chuck turned and before he knew what was happening, Blair had jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him passionately. He returned the kiss eagerly, carrying her into their bedroom. Chuck broke off the kiss to shut and lock their bedroom door, before turning his attention back to his wife. "Some warning would have been nice Mrs Bass," he commented.

"Well we don't have time to waste, it's baby-making time," she grinned, pulling him in for another kiss. "Seeing how cute you were with Laura just then made me want to have a baby even more."

He chuckled as he laid her down on the bed and got on top of her. "But Laura's in the next room," he teased, continuing to kiss her. "We shouldn't be doing this."

"I can be quiet," Blair replied as she started to unbutton his shirt.

He gave her a skeptical look, "I doubt that."

"I can," she insisted. "Well, I'm going to have to learn to be."

"Wait a minute, does this mean no more sex in the living room? Or in the kitchen? Or anywhere else other than our bedroom?"

Blair thought for a moment as she finally managed to get his shirt off. "That all depends on how adventurous I'm feeling," she told him.

"So it's not completely out of the question?" he asked, pulling her dress up over her head.

She discarded the dress on the floor and replied, "Why don't I get back to you on that?"

"Deal," Chuck nodded, before leaning down to kiss her again.

* * *

The next morning at around 10am, Blair, Chuck and Laura met Cyrus down at the courthouse for their meeting with the judge. "Good morning little lady," Cyrus greeted Laura with a friendly smile.

"Good morning Cyrus Rose," she smiled back. She had taken a liking to Blair's step-father.

"How are you feeling about today?" he asked.

"Nervous," Chuck stated.

"Worried," Blair added.

"I was actually asking Laura," Cyrus chuckled, turning back to the little girl.

"I feel okay," she shrugged.

He nodded, "There's no need to be scared, Judge Freeman is an old friend of mine and he's very kind." He looked back to Chuck and Blair, "I'm going to go in with her first, you'll have to wait outside. Then I'll bring her out and the judge will speak to each of you individually."

"Individually?" Blair asked nervously. "Can't he just speak to us together?"

"It's standard procedure Blair," Cyrus shrugged apologetically. She nodded. They had spoken to Cyrus yesterday about things that the judge might ask them, but Blair was still nervous and even more so now that she would have to speak to the judge alone.

The judge's receptionist suddenly announced, "Judge Freeman will see you now."

* * *

Twenty minutes later Blair and Chuck were sitting outside the judge's office, waiting for Laura and Cyrus. "What's taking so long?" Blair asked, tapping her nails on the arm of her chair impatiently.

He grabbed her hand to stop it and replied, "Calm down, it's only been twenty minutes."

"What are they doing, interrogating her?"

"Well yeah," Chuck replied bluntly. "They have to know exactly what's going on so they can determine whether or not Laura's in danger."

She nodded, "I know, I know." She paused for a moment, "I just worry about her Chuck."

He gave her a small smile, "I know you do."

"What happens if the judge doesn't give us custody?" Blair asked, turning to look at him.

Chuck shook his head, "I don't know Blair. We'll think about it when it happens."

"I don't want you to be disappointed if this doesn't work out the way you planned," she said, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"It's going to work out."

"It might not," Blair pointed out. "We have to be realistic about this."

"I am being realistic," he responded stubbornly. "Any judge would be crazy not to take Laura out of her parents custody."

"But what if they give her to a family member instead of us?"

"They won't."

She shook her head, "You don't know that."

Chuck sighed, "Can we just try to stay positive about this please?" Blair nodded and that was the end of their conversation. They continued waiting in silence.

* * *

Once the judge had spoken to Laura, Blair and Chuck individually, he called the couple and Cyrus in to his office to tell them what he had decided. Laura was waiting outside with the judge's receptionist. "So," he started, "After considering the situation, I have decided to grant temporary custody of Laura Middleton to Mr and Mrs Bass until the case goes to trial in June." Blair sighed in relief, knowing that Laura was going to be staying with them for the next few months.

"June?" Chuck repeated. "That's four months away. Can't this be dealt with sooner?"

"That's the American legal system for you," Judge Freeman responded. "Unfortunately, these delays cannot be avoided. We have many cases to oversee before yours."

"But I'm Charles Bass, surely that takes priority," he pointed out.

"Chuck," Blair murmered, shaking her head at him. She looked back to the judge, "I'm sorry, we'll wait just like everybody else."

He nodded, "So, I'm setting the court date for June 2nd."

"We'll be there," Cyrus replied. He had agreed to represent Chuck and Blair when the case went to court.

"If you don't mind, can I ask you something?" Blair requested.

"Of course," the man replied.

"Can we try not to involve Laura as much as possible?" she asked. "I mean, this whole process is going to be stressful for us. I can't imagine what it would be like for a little girl."

"Don't worry, we try to ensure that children are only present in the courtroom when they have to be," the judge informed her. "Any further statements that Laura has to make will be given to me privately."

"Also, what's going to happen with her parents?" Chuck asked. "Will they be able to see her over the next few months?"

He shook his head, "No, they won't be given visitation rights." He paused, " By the way, I also have to tell you about the situation with Laura's aunt."

"What about her?" Blair asked worriedly.

"Well given that she's Laura's only living blood relative besides her parents," Judge Freeman started, "we have to inform her about the situation and give her the opportunity to apply for custody as well."

Chuck shook his head, "You can't be serious."

"So there's a good chance that after all of this, we still might not get custody of her?" Blair asked.

"It's a possibility," he nodded. Blair and Chuck exchanged worried looks. "Are you reconsidering?"

Chuck was about to ask if he could have a private word with his wife to discuss this when she announced, "No, we will be going ahead with the case." She glanced at Chuck, who gave her an approving nod.

"Okay," Judge Freeman said, clearing his throat. "Now, do you have any other questions?" They shook their heads. "I'll see you all in a couple of months time then," he said, standing up from his seat.

* * *

Once Laura had gone to bed that night, Blair and Chuck finally had a chance to talk about the events of the day. They were sitting on the couch in the living room. The television was on, but neither of them were paying much attention to it. "You had me worried today when we saw the judge," Chuck confessed, putting his arm around her. "For a minute I thought you had changed your mind."

"There's no way I'm changing my mind about this," she replied, resting her head on his shoulder. "You were right, Laura needs our help." She paused. "And even if we don't end up getting custody of her, she'll at least know that we tried."

"Well hopefully we will," he responded.

"But you have to acknowledge the fact that there's a chance we won't," Blair told him. "It's possible that Laura's aunt will be given custody."

"That doesn't mean that we won't fight for her," Chuck said softly.

She nodded, "Cyrus is going to do the best he can."

"Has he told your mother about all of this yet?"

"Well seeing as we haven't gotten any angry, hysterical calls from her yet, I'm assuming that he hasn't," Blair replied, managing a small smile.

"I guess when Eleanor does find out, we'll be the first to know," Chuck commented.

They sat there in silence for a moment until Blair spoke up, "I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" he asked, glancing down at her curiously.

She looked back up at him and sighed. "I think we should stop trying to get pregnant," she admitted reluctantly.

"Why?"

"Why?" Blair repeated in disbelief. "I don't know, maybe because we're involved in a custody battle that won't be settled for months."

"But we said that we weren't going to let that affect our baby plans," he replied. "I promised my wife a baby and I intend to keep that promise," he added, kissing her on the forehead.

She smiled at him, "You will, it might just have to be delayed a bit."

"Are you sure Blair?" Chuck asked seriously. "I know how much you want to have a baby."

She nodded, "I'm sure. Another six months or so isn't going to kill me."

"That's not what you've been saying lately," he pointed out.

Blair sat up and kissed him. "It's okay Chuck," she insisted. "I can wait. Really."

"Okay," he responded, pulling her into a hug. "But we will have those three babies Blair. I'll make sure of it."

She smiled and replied teasingly, "Can I have that in writing?"

"You're going to make me sign a contract?" Chuck asked in amusement as she pulled back a little to look at him.

"Sure, why not?" Blair teased. "It can go something along the lines of,_ 'I, Charles Bass, will provide my gorgeous wife Blair Bass with at least three equally adorable offspring'_."

"Hmm, I don't know. I'll have to run that by my lawyer-"

"_'If I fail to comply with these terms'_," she continued with a smug smile, "_'I give my stunning wife permission to use any means necessary to ensure successful impregnation, such as force-'_"

"Force huh," Chuck interjected with a smirk, pulling her closer. "I like the sound of that."

"You're not supposed to like it," Blair giggled, running her hand through his hair. "That's why rape is a criminal offence."

"I knew that there had to be a legitimate reason for that," he teased. "But seriously, you're okay with waiting?"

"Yes," she insisted with a nod.

Chuck paused. "Okay then, we'll wait," he concluded.

* * *

**Let me know what you think of this chapter. I hope it was alright considering my lack of knowledge of the American legal system.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter. It's set two days after the last one. This story was long overdue for an update, so I thought I would give you guys this. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint you! Review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

"Everybody," Blair started with a nervous smile, "This is Laura."

Eleanor, Serena, Nate, Lily and Rufus peered at the little girl curiously. Chuck and Blair had explained the situation to Serena, Nate and Lily earlier. They had been a very surprised and a little confused. Cyrus had to calmly tell Eleanor what was going on, but even so, she couldn't understand why they were doing this. Laura just smiled at the them and said shyly, "Hi."

Serena was the first to speak. "Hi Laura, I'm Serena," she said warmly, giving her a friendly smile.

"Chuck's step-sister, right?" she asked.

She nodded, "That's right, and this is my fiancée Nate." She grabbed him by the arm, pulling him slightly forward.

"Hey," he greeted her with a brief wave.

"Laura," Chuck started, getting her attention. "This is Lily, my stepmother and her husband Rufus," he gestured to them before turned towards his mother-in-law, "And this is Blair's mother Eleanor."

"Hi sweetie," Lily smiled politely.

Eleanor smiled fakely and murmered, "Hello."

There was an awkward moment of silence, where no one really knew what to say. Blair looked around the room nervously, trying to think of something that would break the ice. "Well now that we all know each other," she started, "Why don't we go get something to eat?"

Eleanor cleared her throat, "Actually Blair, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a moment please?"

"Can't it wait mother?" she asked tensely.

"No it can't Blair," she replied, matching her daughter's tone. And with that, she stormed off towards the kitchen.

Blair just smiled politely at everyone, before looking down at Laura with a reassuring smile, "Excuse me." She turned to her husband, "Chuck, why don't you get everyone a drink?" It was more of a demand than a suggestion. He nodded and made his way over to the bar as Blair left the room to go and speak with her mother.

* * *

She entered the kitchen to find Eleanor standing beside the sink with her arms folded across her chest and an obvious frown on her face. Blair sighed, "What is it?"

"You're joking aren't you?"

"Mom, I'm really not in the mood for this," she remarked, shaking her head. "Just tell me what's bothering you."

Eleanor threw her hands up in front of her in frustration. "What's bothering me?" she repeated in disbelief. "How about this whole situation!"

"Calm down-"

"I will not calm down Blair Cornelia Waldorf," she retorted sternly.

"Bass," Blair corrected her.

She shook her head, "Whatever. What were you and Charles thinking when you decided to take this girl in?"

"We were thinking that Laura needed our help," she told her truthfully. "We were acting out of kindness, but I don't expect you to know what that is."

"Do not make this about me," Eleanor warned her.

"Well you're the only one who seems to have a problem with this," Blair replied.

She paused, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Just tell me, what is this really about?"

"What do you mean? I told you-"

"If you want children, why don't you just have a baby Blair?" Eleanor interjected.

She laughed in disbelief, "What?"

"Wait a minute, is something wrong with one of you?" she asked worriedly.

Blair shook her head, "Mom, you're not making sense."

"Actually this makes perfect sense," she concluded in astonishment, as if she had just discovered the mystery of the universe. "One of you can't have children."

"What? No-"

"It's Charles isn't it?" Eleanor asked, cutting her off. "He's sterile isn't he? You do realize that there are plenty of babies out there that need adopting, you don't need to take someone else's child-"

"Mom-" she tried to interrupt her in annoyance.

"Or there are even those sperm banks now as well," she went on, oblivious to her daughter's frustration. "I don't know how you feel about having another man's baby but at least consider-"

"Mom!" Blair exclaimed. "Stop." She paused, giving her mother an incredulous look. "First of all, Chuck isn't sterile! We're perfectly capable of having our own babies. Secondly, stop talking about sperm banks because it's really awkward. And lastly, can you try to calm down and stop jumping to conclusions?"

She blinked, "Are you sure you're both okay?"

"Yes mother, I'm sure," she rolled her eyes as her husband entered the room looking extremely confused.

"What are you talking about?" Chuck asked, looking from his wife to his mother-in-law strangely.

Blair shook her head, "Nothing."

"Well I think you just told the entire New York City that I'm not sterile," he retorted in confusion.

She cringed, "Was I that loud?" He nodded.

"It was just a misunderstanding," Eleanor explained to him.

"She thought that the reason we took Laura in was because we can't have our own kids," Blair clarified.

"Oh," Chuck murmered. "Well I can assure you that's not true. Every part of me is in working order."

Eleanor grimaced, "Thank you Chuck, I really needed to hear that." She paused. "You still haven't given me an explanation for all of this."

"Yes we have," Blair insisted. "We're helping a little girl that needs us, that's all there is to it."

Nate cleared his voice from the doorway of the kitchen, "Sorry to interrupt."

"What is it Nate?" Chuck asked.

"There's someone here to see you," he explained. "She says she's Laura's aunt..."

Chuck and Blair exchanged worried looks before forwarding past Nate and back out into the living room where they stopped in their tracks. A petite, blonde woman who looked to be in her mid to late 30s was taking with Laura. She had a smile on her face, but Laura looked a little apprehensive. The woman looked up when she saw the couple enter the room. "You must be Charles and Blair Bass?" she addressed them with a polite smile.

"Yes..." Blair started, giving Chuck a confused look.

"So it's you that I should be thanking then?" she continued, approaching them slowly.

"I'm sorry...?" Chuck retorted in confusion.

"I've been worried about my niece for years," she explained. "I know that my brother and his wife are completely incompetent parents and I'm so thankful that someone's finally done something about it."

Blair stared at the women for a moment, before concluding, "You're Laura's aunt?"

"My Aunt Samantha," Laura interjected informatively.

"You're not taking her," Chuck told the woman bluntly.

Samantha looked to them in confusion, and insisted, "Yes I am. Laura is my niece and therefore my responsibility."

"The judge also gave us temporary custody of Laura until the custody case goes to court in June," he informed her. "So therefore, she is our responsibility."

Blair bit her lip nervously as her husband and their visitor glared at each other coldly. "Um..." she started, making eye contact with Cyrus. "Why don't you all go out for dinner with Laura while Chuck and I speak with Samantha?"

"You really think that I'm going to let my niece leave here with a bunch of strangers?" Samantha retorted incredulously.

"Well you didn't seem to mind leaving her with neglectful parents all this time," Chuck shot back.

"That's enough," Blair interjected, putting a hand on her husband's arm. She glanced down to Laura, "Do you mind going to dinner with Cyrus and everyone else?"

"Actually Blair, I think we're going to go," Lily spoke up, referring to herself and Rufus. "You obviously have a lot to deal with and we're just getting in the way."

"Yeah, Nate and I are going home too," Serena nodded, grabbing her fiancee by the arm.

Blair started, "You don't have to-"

"It's fine, really," Serena insisted. "I'll call you in the morning, okay B?"

She nodded and they all said goodbye to each other quickly. Lily, Rufus, Serena and Nate cleared out of the room and got into the elevator, leaving Blair, Chuck, Eleanor, Cyrus, Samantha and Laura in the living room of the Empire penthouse. "Well I guess it's just you, me and the Mrs for dinner," Cyrus commented, giving Laura a warm smile.

"Wait a minute, I didn't agree to this," Samantha protested in annoyance.

"You don't have to agree to it," Blair spoke up, finally losing her cool. "My husband and I have custody of Laura at the moment, so we get to make these decisions. Right now, we are allowing her to go to dinner with my mother and step-father whether you like it or not." The blonde women's jaw dropped in surprise and Blair smiled smugly. Chuck smirked. He didn't think he had ever been more proud to call Blair his wife.

"Come on dear," Cyrus said to a very reluctant-looking Eleanor, as he ushered Laura and his wife towards the elevator.

"We'll be back soon," Eleanor called out as the three of them stepped into the elevator.

"Take your time," Blair replied as the elevator doors shut.

Chuck gestured to the lounge in the living room. "Take a seat," he said to Samantha bluntly as he and Blair sat down on the other lounge.

Samantha sat down across from the couple reluctantly, frowning at them. She took a deep breath and started, "So...would you care to explain to me why a young couple with their whole future ahead of them, would want to get involved in a custody battle for a child they barely know?"

Chuck and Blair exchanged a look, before she cleared her throat and answered, "Laura came to us and asked for our help, we couldn't really say no now could we?"

"That doesn't explain why you want custody of her," she shook her head in confusion.

"Blair and I have become quite attached to Laura over the last month or so," Chuck began. "We've really grown to care about her and we would love to have her in our lives permanently."

Samantha sighed, "Like I said, she is my niece and if anyone should get custody of her, it should be me and my husband."

"You're married?" Blair asked.

She nodded, "Yes and we have two children. Twins actually, a boy and a girl. They haven't spent much time with Laura, but they're her cousins nevertheless. I think the best thing for her would be to grow up with her cousins back in California."

"California?" Chuck repeated in disbelief. "So that means that if you get custody of Laura, you would move her to the other side of the country?"

"Yes."

He shook his head, "That's not acceptable. If we don't get custody of Laura we at least want to see her on a regular basis. How are supposed to do that with her living in California?" He felt Blair's hand grab onto his. She squeezed his hand supportively, in attempt to calm him down.

"I'm afraid that's not my problem," Samantha shrugged carelessly. She didn't really sympathize with the couple at all and couldn't understand their involvement in the whole situation. "I mean, you're welcome to come visit Laura in California, but there's nothing I can do about her living arrangements."

"Well," Chuck started, narrowing his eyes at the woman, "It's a good thing that my wife and I are going to get custody then. We won't have to worry about such matters."

"What makes you think that any judge would give Laura to two complete strangers, over her own flesh and blood?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

He was about to respond when Blair cut in, "I think it will be clear to the judge how much we care for her. We were the ones that began these legal proceedings because we were concerned for Laura's welfare. Whereas you, her own 'flesh and blood' left her for years with incompetent parents, with the full knowledge that she was in danger."

Samantha paused, nodding gently as she stood up from the lounge, "You make a valid point, but I think we should just leave this battle for the courtroom."

"Going somewhere?" Chuck asked, peering at the women questioningly.

"Yes, I think we've spoken enough for the evening," she told her, resting her purse on her shoulder. "I'll be in town for the next couple of days and I want to spend time with Laura. Is that okay with you?"

"I suppose so," Blair responded. "As long as you don't take off back to California with her."

"Because that would be the best way to get the judge to grant me custody," she retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I just want to see her. It's been so long since my brother has brought her to see me."

She sighed, "Fair enough."

The blonde paused once more, glancing between Blair and Chuck. "Speaking of my brother, I spoke with him this afternoon and he and Vivien know about the custody case."

"Vivien?"

"Laura's mother," Samantha replied. "My brother's name is Samuel. For people that claim to care about Laura so much, you know very little about her."

"What's your point?" Chuck asked, starting to become impatient.

"They're returning to New York tomorrow," she told him. "And it's safe to say that they're not happy with the two of you."

He shrugged and retorted dryly, "Well I'm not exactly concerned about becoming their best friends."

"This is just a friendly warning," she responded. "I'd like to think that we're on the same side here. We all want what's best for Laura and we don't want Vivien and Samuel to get the chance to do this to her again."

"You're right," Blair admitted, standing up from the couch. Chuck stood up as well. "We should try to be civil to one another. This is about Laura's safety and what's going to be best for her in the long term." She glanced over at her husband who looked extremely unhappy about the whole situation. In Chuck's opinion, the best thing for Laura was to stay with himself and Blair. No aunt, no matter how good her intentions were, was going to change that.

"I should be heading off," Samantha announced. She reached into her purse and pulled out a business card, before handing it to Blair. "My number is on there. I'll be in touch." She turned to leave.

"Don't you need our numbers?" Chuck asked, causing the women to stop in her tracks and turn back to them.

She smiled smugly, "I already have them, as well as just about every detail about the two of you." She paused. "Did you really think that I would go into this custody battle empty-handed? My lawyer has already had you thoroughly investigated for anything we can use to prove that I'm a better guardian for Laura."

Chuck became slightly worried, but in a classic Bass manner, he refused to show it and replied confidently, "I'm not surprised. I've already had you checked out as well." That was a complete lie, but he would definitely be calling his P.I. and having this woman investigated first thing in the morning.

Samantha didn't look the slightest bit worried and just smirked, "I'm sure you have." She nodded in their direction, "You have a good night now." And with that, she turned and made her way towards the elevator.

Once Samantha had left, Blair shook her head and commented, "What a piece of work..." She turned to look at Chuck to find him already on his way to their bedroom. She rushed after him, "What are you doing?"

"Pack your bags Blair," he instructed, making his way into their walk-in closet to find their suitcases.

"Why?"

Chuck stuck his head out of the closet and explained, "We have to relocate temporarily. In case you've forgotten, Laura's parents live at the Empire. Considering our situation, I'm sure the current living arrangement would not be the best thing for everyone involved. Since I can't legally kick the pair out of the hotel, our only option is to move."

"We can't move Chuck, this is our home," Blair protested as he emerged from the closet carrying a suitcase in each hand.

"It won't be forever," he assured her, setting the suitcases down on their bed and opening them up. "Just for the next few months. I'm actually hoping that Samuel and Vivien will choose to leave voluntarily. Then we won't have to move at all."

She sighed, making her way towards him and leaning in for a much needed hug. "This is getting so complicated," she commented as Chuck wrapped his arms around her.

"I know baby, I'm sorry," he murmered, kissing the top of her head.

They stood there for a moment in silence, until Blair pulled back slightly so she was looking at him. "I think this packing is a little premature Bass," she told him, glancing down at the suitcases on the bed. "Maybe we should just see what happens with Laura's parents tomorrow. Like you said, they might choose to leave."

"I suppose so," Chuck responded softly, taking her face into his hands. He gave her a small smile, "You know that I love you, don't you?"

"Of course I do," she insisted, frowning at his uncertainty. "And I love you," she declared, planting a few kisses along his jawline. "How about we order room service and watch a movie?" she suggested softly.

"That sounds like heaven right now," he commented. He could really use some normalcy at the moment. He wrapped his arm around her waist as they strolled out of the room together.

* * *

When Eleanor and Cyrus brought Laura home an hour and a half later, Chuck and Blair were seated together on the couch in the living room. "Hi sweetie," Blair greeted the blonde little girl as they both stood up. "We missed you."

"Hi Blair, hi Chuck," Laura smiled, hugging the both of them briefly.

"How was dinner?" Chuck asked, looking to Eleanor and Cyrus.

"Fantastic," Cyrus answered warmly. "We had a great time."

Even Eleanor seemed to have been won over by the little girl. "It was lovely," she gushed. "It was nice to get to know Laura better."

Blair raised one eyebrow in surprise at her mother's change of heart. "I'm glad it went well," she commented, exchanging a look with Chuck as he rested his hand on her lower back.

"Where's my aunt Samantha?" Laura asked curiously.

"She went back to her hotel," Chuck responded. "But she wants to see you sometime in the next couple of days, is that okay?"

She nodded, "Sure, I guess."

"Why don't you start getting ready for bed?" Blair suggested, noting how late it was getting. "You have to go back to school tomorrow." If she and Chuck were going to be Laura's legal guardians, she had to start ensuring that she went to bed at a reasonable hour.

Laura made a face, "Do I have to go to school?" The adults chuckled at the look on the little girl's face.

"I'm afraid so," Blair nodded, feeling very much like a mother as she did so. "Just like Chuck and I have to go back to work."

"Okay," Laura sighed, before turning to Cyrus and Eleanor. She hugged them both, which caught them off guard at first, but they accepted her hugs happily. "Thank you for dinner Eleanor and Cyrus Rose," she smiled.

"It was our pleasure," Eleanor replied with a hint of a smile.

"Anytime," Cyrus added.

As the little girl hurried off towards the spare bedroom, Eleanor turned back to her daughter, "She really is something, that one."

"Tell me about it," Chuck agreed, managing to smile briefly. He was still worried about what was going to happen with Samatha, as well as with Laura's parents when they arrived home.

"We should really be going."

Blair nodded, "Okay. Thank you so much for tonight." She gave her mother a brief hug. They all said their goodbyes and Eleanor and Cyrus left.

* * *

Just after 6 o'clock the next morning, Chuck and Blair were awoken by the ringing of the phone that sat on Chuck's bedside table. He groaned into his pillow, before reluctantly removing his arm from where it was draped across Blair's waist and grabbing the phone clumsily. "Hello?" he murmered in annoyance to the person on the line. Blair sat up slightly, peering at her husband in confusion as he listened for the person's reply. "Who's here?" Chuck asked impatiently. He wasn't particularly happy about being woken up so early in the morning.

"Tell whoever it is to go away," Blair muttered, snuggling back into her pillow. "They can come back at a reasonable hour."

"Oh," Chuck remarked into the phone, sitting up worriedly. He ran his hand through his messy hair and thought for a moment. "Uh...send them up in fifteen minutes," he told the woman from the front desk, before resting the phone back down in its cradle. He leant over and kissed his wife on the cheek gently, causing her eyes to flutter open in annoyance. Before she could voice this annoyance, he said to her, "We need to get dressed Blair. Apparently we're going to have quite a difficult morning."

"What do you mean?" she asked, sitting up with a concerned look on her face.

"Laura's parents are back from Italy and they're demanding to see us," he explained. He got out of bed and began to head towards their closet to put on something more presentable than the pajamas he was currently wearing.

This revelation completely woke Blair up. "What?" she responded in concern, practically jumping out of bed and following him into the closet. Chuck grabbed one of his suits and a shirt and turned back to face his wife. "They're here?" she asked in disbelief. It was far too early in the morning for a confrontation with Laura's parents. Blair began to rummage through the closet to find something decent she could quickly throw on.

"I'm afraid so," he replied, setting his clothes down on their bed. As he began to unbutton his pajama top, he asked, "What are we going to do about Laura?"

She emerged from the closet with the dress she had selected and remarked, "We're going to keep her away from them, that's what we're going to do." She quickly stripped down to her underwear and proceeded to put on her dress.

"How are we going to do that? She's just across the hall," Chuck pointed out as he finished putting on his shirt. He then began to change his pants.

Blair shrugged as she hurried towards him, gesturing for him to zip up her dress. "I don't know. Let's just hope that she stays asleep and in her room," she remarked.

"That's pretty unlikely. She's eight," he reminded her as she rushed back into the closet. "Kids are always up early."

She emerged from the closet a moment later, a pair of black Louboutins in hand. "We'll think of something," she insisted, making her way towards the door of their bedroom. She stopped to slip on her shoes and told him, "I'm going to go check on Laura. Hopefully she's still asleep." Chuck nodded as Blair left the room, and went back to getting ready as quickly as he could.

* * *

As soon as the couple stepped out of the elevator, Blair and Chuck knew that they were far from pleased. "Vivien and Samuel, I presume?" Blair addressed them as she stood beside Chuck a few feet away from the elevator. They wanted to known of Laura's parents' arrival immediately, so they had planted themselves right in front of the elevator a few minutes ago. Laura had been asleep when Blair checked on her, but they didn't want to risk Samuel and Vivien finding her before they had a chance to talk with them.

The blonde woman blinked and was silent for a moment, as if surprised that Blair knew her name. "Where is my daughter?" Vivien demanded, stomping over to the other couple angrily, with her husband following close behind.

"Laura's fine," Blair insisted, avoiding the topic of exactly where the little girl was.

"We didn't ask _how_ she is, we want to know _where_ she is," Samuel retorted, eyeing Chuck and Blair suspiciously.

"All you're entitled to know right now is that she's okay," Chuck responded, glaring at the older man. "You lost the right to know where she is when you decided to take off for Italy and leave her all alone to fend for herself."

Vivien gave him an incredulous look. "Excuse me?" she exclaimed. "For your information, Laura is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. The two of you are making out like we're some sort of monsters that neglect our child."

"You wouldn't consider this to be neglect?" Blair asked in disbelief. She did not understand these people at all.

"Of course not!" Samuel interjected. "We've never deprived her of anything. She's always fed and dressed, with a roof over her head. What more do you want?"

"I think it's time for you to leave," Chuck announced. He had been hoping that they would be able to have a civilised conversation with the couple, but that obviously wasn't going to happen.

"Not without our daughter," Vivien responded stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest.

He chuckled joylessly and retorted, "Maybe I should rephrase that. You either leave on your own accord, or I'll have security up here in a matter of minutes to remove you from the building. You're no longer welcome here."

"Why would we want to stay?" the blonde woman responded with a roll of her eyes. "We will no longer be living at the Empire. We'll be moved out of here as soon as possible."

"Good," Chuck responded simply. "Now you have one minute to get out before I call security."

The two couples glared at each other for a moment, before they heard the door to the spare bedroom open just behind Chuck and Blair. Laura stepped out, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw her parents. "Mom, Dad..." she started. She stepped towards them, stopping beside Blair.

"Laura," Samuel addressed her emotionlessly. "There you are. Gather your things, we're leaving."

"She's not going anywhere," Blair spoke up in alarm. "Laura's in our custody now. You can take up your objections with the judge."

"Laura," he repeated, giving his daughter a warning look.

"I don't want to leave," she told him in a soft voice. "I want to stay with Blair and Chuck."

"Well that's not up to you, now is it?" Vivien retorted cruelly.

Chuck announced, "I'm warning you. I'm about to call security." He didn't want to have to resort to doing that. The last thing he wanted was for Laura to have to watch her parents be escorted from the building.

Vivien didn't particularly want to be removed from the building by security either, so she told her husband, "Let's just go. We'll contact our lawyer and have this all straightened out."

Samuel nodded in agreement, before turning back to Chuck and Blair, "We'll be in touch." Giving Laura one last look, he turned and made his way back towards the elevator with his wife following behind him.

As soon as they had left, Laura immediately burst into tears. "Oh sweetie," Blair gushed, pulling the little girl into a hug. "Everything's going to be okay." As she continued comforting Laura, she glanced up and gave Chuck a worried look.

He was just as concerned as she was, but refused to show it and went straight into business-mode. "I'll call Cyrus," he told her.

"Chuck," Blair started, gesturing to the sobbing little girl. Laura needed their support at the moment, all the legal aspects could wait an hour or two.

"We need to find out how strong of a case we have against these people," he explained. "We need to up our game if we want to win."

"Are you listening to yourself?" she hissed in disbelief. "It can wait," she told him with a strong glare.

Chuck nodded, clearing his throat. "Laura," he started gently, causing the girl to look up at him, with eyes red from crying. "Why don't you get dressed and we'll all go out for breakfast before school?"

"Okay," Laura replied with a sniffle, wiping away her tears.

"Whatever happens Laura, you're going to be okay," Blair assured her. "We're going to make sure of it." She and Chuck exchanged a look that confirmed to her that they were going to stay true to their word.

* * *

**So you've met Laura's parents and aunt now. What do you think of them? Samantha is kind of a bitch, but she has her niece's best interests at heart. As for Vivien and Samuel...well they do want Laura back, but they certainly aren't the best parents in the world. Please review :)**


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